How to create a QR code

Create a free custom QR code in under a minute. Choose colours, add a logo, download a print-ready PNG, and learn when to make it dynamic so you can change the destination later.

You can make a working QR code in well under a minute. The important decision is not the design — it is whether you want to be able to change where it points after it is printed. Get that wrong and a reprint is the only fix.

Create one in four steps

1. Open the QR code generator.
2. Paste the destination URL — a website, a menu, a form, a video, anything with an address.
3. Adjust the look: foreground and background colours, corner and pattern style, and a logo if you want one.
4. Download the PNG.

That image is yours to use anywhere: a poster, a menu, packaging, a slide, a business card.

Make it dynamic if it is going to be printed

A static QR code encodes your destination URL directly into the pattern. It works forever, but the destination is baked in — the only way to change it is to make a new code.

A dynamic QR code encodes a short link instead. The pattern never changes, but you can point that short link somewhere new whenever you like. When you create a QR code from your uYou account, it is backed by a short link automatically, which means:

• you can change the destination after printing
• you can see how many times it was scanned, and where from
• you can disable it if a campaign ends or something goes wrong

If the code is going anywhere you cannot easily reprint — packaging, signage, a printed menu, an event badge — make it dynamic. It costs nothing extra and removes the one risk that actually hurts.

There is a fuller comparison in Dynamic vs static QR codes.

Choosing colours that still scan

Scanners look for contrast between the dark modules and the light background, so:

• Keep the foreground much darker than the background. Dark on light is the safe direction.
• Avoid inverting it (light code on a dark background). Some readers cope; plenty do not.
• Avoid low-contrast pairs like mid-grey on white, or two similar brand colours.
• Never place the code over a photograph or a gradient.

If you are unsure, test the downloaded image with two or three different phones before it goes to print. That takes two minutes and catches almost everything.

Adding a logo

A logo in the middle makes a code recognisably yours, and QR codes tolerate it because of built-in error correction. There are limits, though — see Add a logo to a QR code for how big is too big and which error-correction level to use.

Where the code goes next

Once it is downloaded, the design is fixed. What you can still change, if it is dynamic:

• the destination URL
• whether it is active
• the title you use to find it in your dashboard

And what you can see: total scans, scans over time, and the rough location and device mix of the people scanning. That is covered in Track link clicks and QR scans.

Last updated 2026-08-24